Jonathan Cancels Visit To Chibok

President Goodluck Jonathan has cancelled his first visit to the village from which more than 200 schoolgirls were abducted by Islamist rebel group Boko Haram a month ago due to security fears.

According to senior government sources, Jonathan will instead fly directly from the capital Abuja to Paris on Friday for a regional summit to discuss the Boko Haram insurgency and wider insecurity and will not make a stop in the northeastern village of Chibok.

Sources at the Presidential Villa Abuja had authoritatively confirmed the President’s plans to visit the village before leaving for Paris.

“The president was planning to go but security advised otherwise on the visit,” said the source of the last-minute decision to cancel the Chibok part of the trip.

Nigerians have criticised the government’s initial response to the plight of the girls, who were abducted on April 14, and U.S. officials this week said the government had done too little to adapt to the threat posed by Boko Haram.

Jonathan asked France last week to arrange a security summit with neighbours Chad, Cameroon, Niger and Benin, and officials from the United States, Britain and the European Union to discuss a coordinated response. The summit will take place on Saturday.